


empty sunrises

by mazabm



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Shuri (Marvel) Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 08:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14690391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazabm/pseuds/mazabm
Summary: Shuri is 19 and has experienced tremendous lost, but she still has a duty to Wakanda, to the world.





	empty sunrises

**Author's Note:**

> "She's queen now and there is no heart shaped herb for her to take" @fallpoutboy on tumblr said, and I wrote

Shuri is pretty sure one of her ribs are broken and she has a concussion but she still drags herself up the stairs and makes sure that the force field goes back down. Her lab is a mess and she watched as the warrior across from her turned to ash. 

It was quiet, she could hear the other women’s breathing and then she couldn’t. She has never seen anything like it before. Okoye is there first and there are tears running down the other woman’s face. A sense of foreboding hangs over her.

“T’challa?” She whispers and Okoye shakes her head.

“He’s gone.” She says. “Right before my eyes.”

And she has lost her father, her uncle, her cousin and now her brother all over again.

“No.” And she’s crying. “No.”

She is nineteen and has experienced tremendous lost.

“Shuri you have to lead.” Okoye says and she barks out a harsh laugh.

“No, there are so many others”

“They are not here!” And Okoye is not unaffected. “T’challa would have wanted you, your family.”

“There is no more heart shaped herbs! I cannot be queen.” That is not a good enough excuse a voice that sounds like her mother says.

“You are the only one, smart enough to figure this out, to bring them back, and you are smart enough to lead.”

“I am not T’challa.” She says, firm.

“No one is asking you to be.” Okoye says. “I need you to be Shuri. I am asking you to lead.”

There are no more Black Panther suits. There is however, a white prototype she made (for her mother or Nakia or herself when shes being honest) that fits perfectly. Okoye’s smile is small yet proud.

They gather everyone, even the non-Wakandians and her heart aches for it is so few. Nakia has somehow made her way home. Her mother holds the hands of children whose parents have turned to dust. 

“The world is collapsing. Half of the population gone like that,” Nakia snaps and Shuri does not flinch. “What's left? We can help them. Our electricity does not run on coal like theirs, they will be off in a second and they do not know how to live without it.” Nakia would still make a beautiful queen but her brother is gone and though Shuri can see it, can see Wakanda offering aid to those who need it, she also thinks about the violence waged in her country, of all the missing (they do not say dead for fear of jinxing it) and promises Nakia they will try but first they must focus on Wakanda

“If anyone,” She says to the entire crowd, all that is left of her proud people. “Has an issue with me leading, come now.” And the Outsiders shift uncomfortably. This is not a Challenge Day, its a call, an offer and no one takes her up on it. Even M’baku, who envisioned a much different Wakanda sobs into his wife’s hands. She later find out that one of his children turned to dust in her arms. What is left of his tribe stands protectively around him in a circle. 

After that, they redistribute work among who is there, she shoulders a lot of the new work onto herself, thinking about inventions that will make one person’s job easier. She does calculations, they will have enough resources to last them years at this population. In that aspect Thanos was right, but he underestimated how much humanity needed each other. 

She will not be a traditional Queen, there are no more heart shaped herbs for her, her black panther suit is white. 

She is 19 and has experienced tremendous lost but the sun still raises on Wakanda and she is still there.

"We can bring them back!" The good Captain says and in her suit she clenches her fist. They will bring them back, if it is the last thing she does.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'll continue this but I think it's good for now.


End file.
